1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission, and more particularly to a transmission for a saddle type vehicle (buggy) for operation on rough terrain.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional transmission of the background art is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-61212, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. This transmission includes a primary shaft, a main shaft, and a countershaft. Power is transmitted between the primary shaft, main shaft and countershaft respectively, e.g., the countershaft is a final shaft in this transmission.
In general, gears having diameters larger than the diameters of gears mounted on front-stage shafts are mounted on rear-stage shafts, e.g., so as to sequentially reduce a rotational speed during power transmission. In the above-described transmission of the background art, larger-diameter gears are mounted on the final shaft.
More specifically, two larger-diameter gears having different diameters are fixed to the final shaft (the countershaft in the above publication). Two smaller-diameter gears normally meshing with the two larger-diameter gears are rotatably supported relative to the shaft (the main shaft in the above publication) provided on the directly front stage of the final shaft. Further, gear selecting and fixing means (a gear selecting mechanism in the above publication) is provided between these smaller-diameter gears. Either of these smaller-diameter gears is selected and fixed to the support shaft by the gear selecting and fixing means, thereby allowing the selection of any one of different operational conditions.
Applicants have determined that the background art suffers from the following disadvantages. As mentioned above, the two larger-diameter gears are mounted on the final shaft of the transmission in the related art, causing an increase in weight of the transmission.